


Wake up call.

by Fangirlqueen87



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 08:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5085328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlqueen87/pseuds/Fangirlqueen87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Robert wakes from his coma he has many questions that need answering, one of them being, where exactly Aaron was...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wake up call.

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda wrote Adam as a much more blunt angry character, more involved in terms of visiting Robert and basically having an opinion on things more!

Robert fidgeted slightly in his hospital gown, blinking hard as he still tried to adjust his eyes to the bright lights of the hospital room. The glaring beam of light was almost blinding. Robert sighed softly, trying his best to lift himself up from the bed and search the small room. Shifting his body to one side, Robert soon realised that the challenge was too difficult for his weak body to carry out. Instantly dropping back down and admitting defeat, Robert's mind began to fill with thoughts, questions that he needed answering. 

Where am I? What happened? 

Then all at once his thoughts turned to Aaron. The fear grew in his mind as he tried his hardest to remember why he was in hospital. His mind was blank. Every memory of the fatal night was cloudy and unclear. Panic surged through his body as his mind raced back to the helicopter crash, wondering if he was a victim to another tragedy. Questioning whether Aaron was in the next room. 

Robert gripped his sheets tightly, his anxiety getting the better of him. Suddenly the sound of the door opening and closing swiftly, managed to steady his nerves. The soft familiar voice that filled the room, managed to ease Robert slightly. Robert craned his neck up awkwardly trying his best to focus his attention on the whisper of the person. 

Soon the whisper grew louder, the voice became more familiar and Robert allowed himself to smile weakly. It was Victoria's. 

Victoria moved in closer to Robert, placing her hand softly on his arm. 

"Hey" she said weakly, resting herself on the chair near his bed.

Robert's mouth began to grow dry, as if he couldn't speak at all. Robert wasn't sure how long he had been in a coma for but he felt like he had lost the ability to communicate verbally. 

Victoria frowned, witnessing her brother's obvious discomfort.   
"I'm sure you've got loads of questions ... you need to rest though Rob" 

Robert sighed,   
"What. What happened?" Robert forced the words out, finally finding his voice.

Victoria stared wide eyed at her brother, the bluntness of his reply was enough to make her feel sick with sadness and frustration. For the three weeks she had convinced herself that Robert would have all the answers. Yet as she stood staring at her older brother, so weak, so fragile she knew she had been wrong. How could she remind him of the terrible truth now she knew how little he remembered about the night. 

Robert saw the hesitation grow in his sister's eyes and began to fill overcome with dread,  
"Vic was anyone hurt?" 

Victoria bit her lip "No Rob er just ... just you"

Robert let out a sigh of relief, fidgeting with his bed sheets as he tried to hid his happiness. The thought of Aaron, Diane or Andy in danger had overwhelmed him. 

The happiness was short lived as he closed his eyes momentarily. Everything went black. Instantly Robert was reminded of the painful night. His mind became overwhelmed with noise as he remembered the gun shot. The piercing sound that ripped through him as he fell to the ground. It was all coming back to him. 

Victoria nudged Robert hard, suddenly afraid that he couldn't open his eyes. 

Robert opened his eyes widely, breaking away from the memories that were overwhelming his mind. 

"I...was shot" Robert mumbled staring at Victoria wildly "I was with Chas. She told me to go ... I was going to Vic I -" 

"Rob you don't know have to explain yourself" 

"I...I do. What I did to everyone. Chrissie, Andy, Lawrence" Robert pushed his head back "Aaron" 

The mention of his name made Victoria feel guilty. Seeing how effected her brother still was over him, knowing exactly where he was right as she spoke to him. 

"Hey I mean it Rob! Get some rest and let the police worry about everything else" 

Robert's eyes widened,  
"The police!" Robert gulped "Who do they think did it?"

Victoria sighed deeply, turning towards the door and seeing Adam's face. He was seething with anger as he peered into the room and watched his wife tend to Robert Sugden. 

Robert looked towards the window and saw who Victoria was staring at. Robert couldn't help but feel tense as he saw Adam glaring at him so intensely. 

"What's his problem?"

"I...Robert listen to me." Victoria said before her husband finally succumbed to his urge and burst through the door. 

"Looks like your gonna be fine then." Adam said bitterly. 

Robert stared at Victoria who had instantly turned bright red, embarrassed by Adam's obvious lack of concern.   
Robert sat confused by his brother in laws blunt words. Adams expression made the situation even worse, he had shifted his weight onto the leaning of Roberts hospital bed almost closing in on him threateningly. 

"Yeah. Well try to hide your happiness Adam, don't want people thinking your relived or anything" Robert said finally sick of the awkward silence created by Adam. 

"Why don't you wait outside eh? Visit Johnny whist I'm here with him" Victoria said softly, walking over to Adam and patting his back anxiously. 

The strange move did not go unnoticed by Robert who now gazed at his sister with a confused expression firmly on his face.   
Adam sighed slowly, agitated by the sight of Robert sitting comfortably in his hospital bed,   
"Vic! I can't just ... not after everything" Adam whispered loudly, trying his hardest to calm himself down "Not after what he did to everyone. Just think about Aaron" 

Robert instantly perked up as he heard Aaron's name mentioned rather loudly by Adam, the passion and almost anger in his words made Robert feel worried and slightly on edge. 

Aaron. Why Aaron? What's happened? 

'Think of Aaron' 

Victoria bit her lip hard as Robert blinked anxiously almost struggling to formulate a sentence. Images flickered through his mind, making his heart race with dread, pictures of Aaron hurt or alone. Robert tried his hardest to ease the negativity spreading like fire through his mind but remembering the worry so present in Adam's voice instantly brought him back to the dark ideas. 

"What ... what do you mean Aaron? What? Has something..." Robert was in a state, trying his hardest to stay calm yet failing miserably. 

Adam was seething,   
"Yeah well you could say that." 

Robert was utterly desperate, ignoring the small amount of pride still left that he often held onto,   
"Vic please. What's he on about?" Robert whispered, his eyes wide and his cheeks blushed.

Victoria bent her head, struggling to explain the situation to her brother who was so desperate for the truth. The thought of telling him that Aaron was charged with trying to kill him made her feel sick, after seeing how effected Robert was by the mention of Aaron's name how could she be so cruel. Adam couldn't bare the silence filling the room again as Victoria tried her hardest to tell Robert the truth, constantly starting a sentence then stopping and restarting with a different phrase. The waiting was agonising for Robert who was now perched up higher on his bed, the weak sensation dying away as he awaited news. 

"See the thing is" Victoria stammered waving her arms around frantically. 

"Vic just spit it out!" Robert shouted, using almost all his energy on a few words. 

Victoria shift her weight slightly staring at her brother knowing that she was about to wreak havoc on his fragile heart,   
"Please just. Just don't…we don't know for sure if ... if it's even true" Victoria sighed, her eyes brimming with tears slowly.   
"What? You don't know what? Vic please just tell me what's going on!" Robert whispered, hurt by the tears falling down his sisters face. Almost guilty as he looked at how scared and worried she was about telling him the news. 

Adam felt a wave of anger rush through him as he looked at his wife struggling to tell Robert the news that consumed him,   
"I'll tell you shall I!" Adam shouted alerting Victoria who turned her hated to face him sharply. 

"Adam please!" Victoria pleaded, knowing that Adam wouldn't mince is words at all. 

"No no he wants to know doesn't he. The reason why I'm so angry is because of you" Adam pointed angrily at Robert "because my ... my best mate might be locked up for life and it's all your fault!" 

Robert couldn't speak. He couldn't process the information at all. It was too much for his mind to take in. 

'Locked up for life' 

The words burnt deep in Robert's mind, Aaron. Aaron locked up for life. Robert felt the room spin slightly as he imagined Aaron in prison again, numb to anymore pain as he accepted his cruel fate. The thought echoed as the truth dawned on him quickly, Aaron was in prison and he had been shot. It didn't take him too long to piece the information together, and when it did Robert felt the weight of the world sit uncomfortably on his shoulders. 

"No. No not Aaron" Robert pleaded staring at Victoria and Adam who now both had tears spilling from their eyes. 

"I'm sorry Rob" Victoria said walking back towards her brothers bed and placing her hand on his. 

Robert sat in shock, wide eyed as he tried to comprehend it all. Aaron couldn't kill anyone, not after the everything that he had went through in his life. 

"Please tell me it's not true Vic" Robert whispered, the thought of Aaron in prison becoming too much for him to think of. 

"Rob, they've charged him." Victoria sighed, gripping Robert's hand tightly "That's all we know." 

Robert shook his head slowly, not believing that Aaron could ever be responsible. Aaron was innocent, that much was clear as Robert blinked hard. The knowledge sat firmly in his mind, as Robert tried his hardest to block out the other thoughts that still circled round his head. 

Why? Why would he be arrested? There must have been a reason as to why Aaron was arrested and charged for attempted murder right? The reason filled Robert's mind with dread, the possibilities were endless as he sat back on his bed. 

Did Aaron carelessly miss out information when talking to the police? 

Did Aaron not have an alibi? 

Was there evidence? A weapon? DNA? 

Of course Aaron had motive, more than anyone. Robert shut his eyes slowly - the words he spat in the scrap yard that day still haunted him. The horrible lies that he said to Aaron about there being other men. Calling him boring and pathetic as he chucked and heaped more and more insults at him. The things he said about Chas and Jackson, the sick words he spat about Aaron's suicidal attempt and his self harm. It was enough to make Aaron pull the trigger, it was more than enough. Robert gulped hard as he realised that even if Aaron had every intention of ending Robert's life, he couldn't. Even if he wanted to, he knew that Aaron couldn't ever kill him. He knew that Aaron didn't have it in him to murder anyone, to gun someone down in the dead of night cowardly hiding away from view. 

"He didn't do it." Robert said softly.

Adam stretched his arm out towards Robert,  
"Did you see the person who did? You need to tell the police, Aaron is rotting away I'm there." 

Robert bit his lip wishing that he did remember "No I just ... I just know ... he couldn't kill someone" 

Adam rolled his eyes,   
"Well yeah so do I, so does Vic but the thing is Robert for some reason the old bill don't seem to care about what we think!" 

Victoria sighed loudly before pointing her finger towards Adam,  
"Just stop alright! This isn't helping" 

Adam rubbed his hand across his face in frustration,  
"I don't know what to do, they have evidence Vic!" 

Robert looked towards Adam eager to find out what the evidence was exactly,  
"What evidence?" 

"Johnny's video" Victoria sighed, overwhelmed with guilt as she remembered uploading the video "Aaron ... he was in the video and he ... he had a gun that he was hiding it. I uploaded it without checking and ... and Aaron he didn't have time to explain himself. The police found out and they just took him" 

Robert's mouth went dry again. He had a gun? A gun, a weapon. Robert felt his heart rate increase, his confidence wavered slightly as he tried to imagine a scenario where Aaron would ever possibly need or want a gun. Why he would be hiding it baffled Robert as he tried to make sense of it all. 

"There must be a reason, some sort of explanation" Robert said with a bewildered expression. 

Adam sighed,  
"Well yeah there is. Aaron said he was hiding it because he thought Chas might have been involved somehow. He was protecting her"

Robert bit his lip and gulped as he eased back down slightly in his bed, instantly feeling better as he realised exactly why Aaron had a gun. His actions screamed Aaron, the selfless and protective nature he knew all too well, the qualities he loved about Aaron had ultimately landed him in a prison cell and that piled even more guilt on Robert. 

"It all makes sense now" Robert murmured "so what can we do?" 

Adam scoffed at the thought of him and Robert working together,   
"No idea" Adam said bluntly resting his head against the wall "we need to prove that his telling the truth but ... what if it's too late?" 

"Don't say that babe" Victoria softly said giving Adam a worried look as she saw the confidence drain from him quickly. 

"What if his right." Robert said loudly. "What if it's too late for things to change, for new information to be recovered or-" 

"Urgh don't act like you care!" Adam snapped, cutting Robert off and forcing him to listen. "Don't act like your worried about him. You have no right." Adam was overwhelmed with anger as he heard the panic grow in Robert's voice. 

Robert was taken aback by the outburst, he couldn't help but agree with Adam. He was right, completely right. What right did Robert have to panic about Aaron's welfare and future after everything he had done? After everything he had said and caused.

"Adam! Can you calm down please!" Victoria shouted instantly sparking a row between her and her husband that echoed through Robert's hospital room. 

"How can you stick up from him?" 

"Er because his my brother Adam. Just because you haven't got the greatest relationship with your ones!" 

"Nice Vic." Adam nodded slowly, before turning his attention to Robert "this is all you, you know that right?" 

Robert stayed silent allowing Victoria to jump to his defence once more,   
"Don't blame this on him!" 

"How can you not! How can you not see that if he had just left the village, then he wouldn't have been shot and Aaron wouldn't be rotting in prison!" 

Robert gulped before clenching his jaw, the ideas hitting home hard. Adam could see how much his words had effected Robert and smiled weakly,   
"Cat got your tongue Robert?" 

Robert cleared his throat before replying,  
"No. I ... I ... look I know I don't have any right but I can't help -" 

"Help what? Please don't act like you actually care about him. We all know that your jus thinking about yourself in all this because that's the only thing you actually care about!" 

"I wish it was that simple" Robert said slowly   
"You have no idea what state he can get into do you? How low he can get when his pushed too far" Adam said, memories overwhelming his mind. 

Robert felt his insides churn, thinking back to Aaron and how low he had been this year because of him, because of what he had done. The running and the self harm, the self loathing he felt and the erratic behaviour all because of what Robert had caused. All because of the lies and secrets that Robert made Aaron keep. 

"I know plenty alright! Stop acting like your the only one ... the only one who ... who knows him." 

"I know him better than you." Adam sneered almost insulted by the comment "you've known him for how long eh? I know what damage he can do to himself because I've seen it first hand!" 

A wave of guilt washed over Robert,  
"Yeah well so have I ... trust me I know" 

"Oh poor Rob! Was it hard seeing him so low knowing that you were probably to blame. If he goes down..." Adam caught his breath "I'll make you pay. If he does anything stupid, it's down to you. And I'll make you regret it" 

Robert stared at the hatred in Adam's eyes, so similar to Aaron. The hurt and anger was so present in Adam's words, it was too hard to ignore, to block out and focus on something else. In that moment the only thing Robert could think of was Aaron suicidal again because of him. Tears began to fall slowly as he pictured it, Robert instinctively wiped them away fast not wanting any pity from Victoria. 

"Right enough!" Victoria shouted pulling Adam away from Robert's bed "we're leaving right now" Victoria picked up her coat before kissing Robert's forehead. "I'll come see you tomorrow okay" Victoria said softly squeezing Robert's hand one last time.  
Robert nodded slowly before Adam gave him one final look as he headed out the door leaving only Victoria and Robert. 

"Vic before you go" Robert said just before Victoria turned around to leave.

"Yeah" 

"Please keep me posted on everything" 

"You mean about Aaron" 

Robert bit his lip,  
"Yeah...yes Vic please I - I need to know"

Victoria sighed and titled her head towards the floor,   
"I didn't want this. I didn't want you upset about everything and worrying about Aaron instead of getting yourself better." 

"Please Vic! How can I not worry I ... I love him!" 

Robert screwed up his face as he rested his hands on his head, the weight of the day had finally became too much to handle as he slowly began to sink down in his bed. 

He loved him, of course. But saying it aloud to Victoria felt wrong, as if the love he still held on to shouldn't still be there and was not welcomed by the world outside his mind. 

"Rob...I'll try my best to keep you posted okay" Victoria said softly smiling as she realised just how much Aaron still meant to her brother. 

Robert was alone again, Victoria and Adam had left more than an hour ago and Robert was left to mule over the things he was told. The bitterness that Adam felt lingered in his mind and almost instantly his heart rate increased as he wondered if Aaron felt the same bitterness towards him. If prison had somehow changed Aaron for the worse and all the goodness had disappeared and only hate and resentment remained. 

As Robert blinked hard, a flash of colour flickered across his eyes. A bright red colour, reminding him of the blood he shed that dreadful night. Then black shone brightly replacing the crimson colour instantly and reminding Robert of the night sky that was the last thing he saw that night. Aaron began to walk towards him slowly, bending down and putting pressure on his wound. Rain fell softly as Robert gazed up at Aaron and saw the love still in his eyes, his blurry vision could just about make out the words 'Come on Robert don't do this to me' and in that moment nothing else mattered by Aaron's love. 

XX 

Robert woke with a jolt as he heard a nurse leave his room quietly, Robert wrapped the covers round him as he hugged his sides. The panting had stopped after a while but the nervous sensation still remained minutes later. The dream had sent shivers down his spine and made him shake with fear as he began to remember parts of the night. Moments that were once fuzzy became clear as he remembered the rain splattering down on his skin and felt the pressure of Aaron's hand weigh down on his chest. The moments were enough to give him hope, although he would have to endure another few fuzzy dreams it would be worth it as he became one step closer to the truth. Once step closer to freeing Aaron before it was too late...

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it ;)


End file.
